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International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia

Today, May 17th, is the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. http://dayagainsthomophobia.org/

Once again, over one hundred bloggers who write or blog about stories featuring LGBTQIA characters and issues are raising awareness about this serious issue by having a blog “hop” about it.

The goal is to get people to recognize homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic discrimination, and take action to stop it.

As always, each blog is offering a prize for visiting their page. I am offering a copy of Speaking Out: LGBTQ Youth Stand Up, edited by Steve Berman (Bold Strokes Books, 2011). I reviewed all the stories in that volume as part of my “Short Story 365” review-a-day project last year, and I can’t say enough how impressed I was with the quality of the stories it contains and their range.

What you have to do to win:

In the comments on this or another page on this site, pledge to speak out against homophobia, biphobia, or transphobia. It can be in person, when someone makes a phobic comment in your presence; by using the comments section in social media to call someone on it after they post phobic remarks; by posting or re-posting anti-phobic remarks; by marching to suport equality in your local pride parade next month, or cheering and posting about it from the sidelines (chances are the news media can’t or won’t cover it nearly so well as you can); or any other way by which you will let other people know that you will not stand to see gay, bisexual and transgender persons get bullied, beaten down and lied about any longer. A pledge that you will say “Not on my watch.”

The contest ends at midnight, eastern standard time, on May 24th. Be sure to get your pledge in before the deadline. Also, be sure to leave some sort of contact info in your comment so I can let you know you won. (This was a huge problem last year. It also saves you from having to go back to over one hundred blogs to see whether or not you won anything!)

If you want to know more about me, what I write, and why I write what I do, I encourage you to read the earliest posts on this blog, as well as the first and last of the 365 review project posts (Note: there were 367 posts in all, because *someone*, apparently, can’t count).

And, of course, all the other ones and my published stories, too.

If you tweet about the hop (which you should do, c’mon), be sure to include the hashtag: #HAHABT.

Lastly, don’t forget to check out the other blogs participating in the hop. The link to the main page is at the top of this page, right below the colorful badge.